DIY geometric felt heart garland

I had some stiffened felt left over from this box project, so I cut out some quick, freehand hearts with an X-acto knife.

Geometric shapes are trendy right now. So are ubiquitous chevron patterns, but polka dots are going to overtake those zig zags soon, mark my words.

But back to the felt. E-Z Felt is stiff and sturdy, and about $2 a sheet at my local craft store. It's very forgiving to cut, since any slices that accidentally overshoot the corners of a cutout won't show.

Stringing these hearts on twine is easy since they're full of holes. Really big hearts could be used as trivets or coasters, too.

Make a felt hot air balloon mobile

Hot air balloons are floating all around the internet lately. I'm not sure they'll ever reach owl status, but their popularity is certainly on the rise. Make a colorful hot air balloon mobile from felt using How Joyful's free pattern (via Craft Gossip). Or if paper is more your speed, try the gorgeous woven versions at PaperMatrix— they've added new designs #3 and #4, plus a basic video tutorial on how to assemble the balloons.

DIY geometric felt bookmarks

Remember the boxes I made with stiffened felt from the craft store? I found it was easy to cut the stuff by hand with an X-acto knife, so I used the leftover scraps to make bookmarks with geometric cutouts. Kinda like the laser-cut items that are really popular right now, but without the laser.

DIY stiffened felt boxes

I love the thick wool felt that's increasingly popular, but man. Wool felt in the 3mm to 5mm range is really expensive ($130/yard or so). The boxes, bowls, and vessels made with it are very cool, though. So when I was poking around my local craft store, I found a poor girl's substitute: Eazy Felt. You know it's cheap when "easy" is spelled with a Z instead of an S on the product label. It's regular craft felt that's been stiffened into sturdy sheets, and cost me $1.78 per 12"x18" sheet.

To make felt boxes, I cut a 9" square for the bottom piece, then added four slits and four diagonal cuts to trim away some of the excess felt on the tabs. See my pattern here. (This diagram is not to size; use it as a reference to see where to mark points on your felt.)

I used a rotary cutter and ruler to cut out the main shape, then made the slits and diagonal cuts with an X-acto knife. The stiffened felt cuts quite eazily. I didn't trace a pattern onto the felt; just measured with a ruler, marked the points, and sliced.

The box top is similar, except the center area is larger to fit over the box bottom, and the sides are half the height. See the template here.

After the pieces are cut, crease the tabs against the edge of a ruler to make assembly easier.

Fold the triangular tabs inward and bring the sides of the box up. (To allow for the thickness of the felt, you may need to trim an eighth inch off the edge of the triangle tabs so they don't poke out past the sides of the box.) Then secure the flaps with a hot glue gun. Do the same for the box lid. All done!

Make a modular felt trivet

Related to yesterday's coaster project, here's a template for making a larger modular felt trivet. No sewing or gluing required. Connect as many pieces as you like to make bigger projects, too--placemats, a runner, or sew two pieces together for a pillow cover.


Download the pattern here. Then print out as many sheets as you need, pin them to a piece of felt, and use a rotary cutter or X-acto knife to cut the slits in each shape. (Press hard to make sure you cut through both the paper pattern and the felt.) Then cut apart the shapes, adding the notches around the edges.

Begin locking pieces together by pulling the arrow-shaped tabs through the slots from the back through to the front side. Connect as many pieces as you like.


To finish the trivet, trim off the excess felt around the edges and nip the points off the triangular tabs. Make a straight cut, or round them for a different look.

Modular felt coaster tutorial

Modular pieces that fit together make me really happy, and on a recent Google hunt, I found felt rugs here and here made with interlocking shapes. Very cool. So I tried a pared-down pattern for coasters because I'm way too impatient to fit 847,236,780 pieces together to make a rug.

Download the PDF template right here (it makes two coasters.)

Print out the pattern and pin it to a piece of felt. Use an X-acto knife (press hard) or a rotary cutter to cut the diagonal slot in each pattern piece. Then cut apart the pieces, adding the cuts on the sides.

Grab four of the pieces and orient them as shown above. Each piece should be rotated 90 degrees from its neighbor, so that the ends with "arrows" are chasing each other around a square. Pull each arrow through the adjacent slot from the back to the front.

The coaster will look like this when you've locked all the pieces together.

Trim off the points of the arrows. Also trim off any edges that stick out so you end up with a neat square.

To make a larger trivet, see my next felt project.

How to make strawberries from felt or paper

I have strawberries on the brain at the moment, and these felt versions are totally adorable. Get a tutorial for this chocolate-covered strawberry from Honey Girl Studio. (Look out! There's music, so hit mute if you don't want your boss to catch you skulking around the internet.)

This bowl of strawberries has downloadable instructions right here by Mr. Monkeysuit. Or get another free pattern here at Lit'l Brown Bird.

If you'd rather not stab your finger with a needle because you like paper cuts better, try folding origami strawberries like these from Flickr user N'omettre Rien.

Panda Snacks made an insane cake with them. You'll need some strawberry origami folding paper, available here at Etsy. This video shows how to fold them.

As I was preparing this post, a strange thing happened. I took a break to poke around YouTube, curious to see what the music artist Marina and the Diamonds looks like, since Are You Satisfied and I Am Not a Robot recently infiltrated my head. The first video I clicked was this. Are those felt strawberries attached to her shoulders?!

DIY felt projects for the weekend

A list of cute felt tutorials from around the internet...
Felt-covered tape measure at Poppy Lane, above
Mini teacup pin cushion by Tasket Basket Crafts, above
Felt business card holders at Smila's World
Felt waffle cone by Hannah Hoosier
Felt floral wall mural by Mariana Leung at Design Sponge
Felt bows at Sew Gorgeous
Felt rosettes at Mrs. Priss

(Images from Poppy Lane and Tasket Basket Crafts )

Felt ball ornaments

I tried making yesterday's project out of felt. Equally cute, I think. And more durable, too. To make them, follow these instructions, but use felt and a hot glue gun instead of paper.

Felt gift bows

Check it out—Kathleen from Twig & Thistle used my gift bow tutorial to make bows out of felt and hot glue. They're so cute! See more of her handiwork in her post right here. It's a great idea, since these are less likely to be permanently mashed in the car on the way to grandma's.

(Image from Twig & Thistle)

How to make felt ornaments

If you're in the mood to make some felt ornaments, here's a round-up of cute tutorials to keep you busy:
Ice skates (shown above) at Better Homes and Gardens
Ball ornament at Zakka Life
Christmas owls at Diversions
Bird in a cage at Felt-o-rama
Retro-inspired ornaments at Fantastic Toys
Polaroid pictures at Katie Cupcake
Peppermint candies at Better Homes and Gardens
Jingle mouse at Pimp Stitch
Rosette wreath at Domestifluff

Felt gingerbread ornaments

Friday's Chicago Craft Social was lots of fun. The theme was handmade gifts and holiday decorations, like these felt gingerbread ornaments. I made this half-eaten gingerbread man using Elsie Marley's free pattern, available here. These tiny houses are based on Betz White's design in the e-book Crafty Tree Trimmings: Six Festive Holiday Ornaments to Make, for sale right here.

Tutorials: small, soft, cute edition

A collection of projects for babies and people who like small cute things. If you like big ugly things, these are not for you. And I should clarify that the recipient of some of these projects might be a baby; it's not that I think a baby could actually make that monkey. I don't have kids, but I'm pretty sure about that.

Felt rabbit keychain (above left) at Daily Cute
Crocheted mini monkey with fez (above right) by Christen Haden
Cashmere baby hat and animal friend at Chez Beeper Bebe
Fleece baby mittens at Canadian Living
Argyle onesie by Lu Bird Baby
Felt stuffed piggie at Dollmaker
Crocheted owls with big eyes by Brigitte Read
Piece of toast keychain at Deviant Art
Felt cake slices at Better Homes and Gardens

(Images from Daily Cute and Chad VanPelt)

How to make a ruffled felt pillow

I was delighted to see this felt pillow tutorial on Etsy's blog. Orange plus felt rosettes? What's not to love? And very trendy, since fabric flowers and ruffles seem to be springing up everywhere these days. The tutorial is from Anne Kyrrö Quinn's new book, Felt Furnishings.

Small cute thing

I made this tiny mushroom pincushion from a bottle cap, following Jen Segrest's step-by-step photos on Flickr. I had to add a step that wasn't part of the directions, which was to open up a living room pillow and steal some of the batting to put in this. As a pincushion, I know it's not the most useful ever, but who can resist a teeny little stuffed mushroom made of felt?

Some little sewing projects

Thank you, peoples of the internet, for supplying instructions for these fun sewing projects.

Market tote bag at Film in the Fridge, pictured left
Felt monster by Nina, pictured right
Binder cover at Lola Again
Tissue box cover at Make It and Love It
Kimono baby shoes by Aimee Larsen
Molly Monkey by Larissa Holland
Spring ruffle top by Rae Hoekstra
Boxy pouch with zipper from Projects By Jane
Wall pocket tote by JCasa Handmade
Stuffed owls from Moonstitches

Things to make

I'm sick to death of winter, so excuse me if I err on the side of too much flowery stuff in this list of tutorials.

Butterfly straws at Good Housekeeping, above left
Buttercup bag sewing pattern from Made by Rae, above right
Crooked coasters at The Long Thread
Paper roses from Imagine, Create, Inspire
Dorset buttons from Craftstylish
Bamboo veneer flowers on an IKEA table by Craftynest
Felt tissue cases at Martha Stewart
A tea towel apron from Living Creatively
Flower party decorations at Martha Stewart

Valentine projects

A little round up of Valentine things you could print or make:

Printable bird valentine from Olliebollen, top left
Felt heart pins at the Purl Bee, above right
Printable wood-themed card from Mmmcrafts, bottom left
Potted primrose arrangement at Sunset Magazine
Tea bag wrappers at Creature Comforts
Printable illustrated Valentines from Inside a Black Apple
Paper cards with stitching from the Purl Bee
Dressed-up box of Hershey chocolates from Schlosser Designs
Owl card using patterned paper at Better Homes and Gardens
Valentine matchboxes by PonyBoy Press

Felt stockings galore

These are the stockings my mom and I made last Christmas for our family for hanging at her house. The production sort of spilled over into after Christmas, due to a miscalculation on how long they would take, so I didn't post them here last year. (Click the photo to view larger.) Guess which one is mine!

Gifts to make: for babies and kids

Some things you can make for little ones:

Fifties-style bib at Living Creatively
Slip cover for a Boppy pillow from Walter+Veronica
Diaper bag by A Mingled Yarn
Roll-up travel baby chair at Canadian Living
No-sew fleece blanket at A Chelsea Morning
Felt play landscapes at PlumPudding
Decorative bunting at stitch.rip.repeat
Custom paper silhouettes at DesignSponge
Beanbag chair from Michael Miller
Felt food at Design Mom
Felt bears at Canadian Living (pictured above)

(Image from Canadian Living)